Open-ended, Life-centred,
Gospel-Focussed Explorations of Australian Prayer Book Psalms.
Psalm 26:1-8...PENTECOST PLUS 16 (A)
.... (For the
Gospel, please scroll)
INTRODUCTION: 1]The
alternative PSS
set for after
Pentecost are used here. 2]
Psalms
are poetry for singing;
personal, depending not on rhyme, but on developing an idea,
contrasting it, etc. 3] PSS
date from pre-1000 BC (David)
to mid 400s
BC. Being of their day, we may
find attitudes in some PSS abhorrent.
4] vv.6-8 are often used by priests & servers as part of
their preparation for the sanctuary, but anyone can bookmark it &
use as preparation for the Eucharist.
WARMING UP: How often do
we audit our 'conscience'?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
1-3 If we want God to judge in
our favour, do we need to do some self-auditing to prepare for
that? Would auditing by another trusted person, an anamchara or
soul-friend, likely to be more honest & more profitable,
spiritually, than the risk of our auditing ourself too 'softly'? Is
'trusting in God & not wavering
from that' maybe a good working definition of integrity? Could we apply
that to distinguish a person of integrity from someone
who doesn't have that quality?
How risky
a business might it be to ask God to
'put me to the test, try my mind & my heart'? What if being
'proved'
turns out to be a painful business? Can we learn any lesson from the
'proving' of
dough? The 'proving' of Jesus? Do we consciously aim to be as
steadfastly loving as God is, or
do we settle for some lesser yard-stick? Does the same yard-stick apply
to 'walking in God's truth'?
4-5 Can we
truthfully say we don't sit - ever - with 'deceivers'? Are there more
ways of sitting with a deceiver than just taking that literally? What
about consorting with hypocrites? Could there be those who think
they're sitting with deceivers when they sit with us; consorting with
hypocrites when they 'consort' with us? What might an 'assembly of the
wicked' be today? Are we ever
part of such an assembly, consciously or
unconsciously? What makes us 'godly' or 'ungodly'?
6-8 Are we
reminded at all of the scene of Pilate washing his hands to be innocent
of Jesus' blood? Did it wash in his case? Does it in ours? What makes
such imagery wash or not wash? If we aren't clean in God's sight, can
we genuinely 'lift up the voice of thanksgiving,...tell of God's
marvellous works'? Does today's world of instant gratification tend to
make us think we can just walk right in & get on with genuine
worship? How well do we make & keep the connection between loving
God's house, loving God, & loving others? How well do we grasp that
God's glory dwells not just in a building, but in people?
PLUS: Is there any sense in which these vv. help us reflect on
the Gospel (MT16:21-28)?
